Women's Basketball Falls To A-Sun Leader Florida Gulf Coast, 66-50

Monday, February 4

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

-1012, 65 ASun

Florida Gulf Coast

-185, 110 ASun

Florida Gulf Coast

North Florida

Women's Basketball Falls To A-Sun Leader Florida Gulf Coast, 66-50

2/4/2013 9:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A sluggish second half was costly to University of North Florida women's basketball as the Ospreys fell to Atlantic Sun leader Florida Gulf Coast 66-50 Monday night at UNF Arena in a game that was sponsored by Dunn Wellness.

“At Florida Gulf Coast, they came out of the half strong, so we knew that was going to happen again,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “We had two huge breakdowns the first two possessions in the second half. We called a timeout, but it was just like treading water to get back into it. The margin for error against a team that good is very slim. Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it.”

Raneisha Lamar posted her second double-double in as many games, getting her sixth of the year. Lamar tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds. Fabiola Josil and Ki Conner each scored 13 points.

Joyce Iamstrong led a quartet of Eagles in double-digit scoring. Iamstrong had a game-high 18 points and was 7-for-7 from the foul line. Betsy Adams notched 14, while Sarah Hansen and Anthi Chatzigiakoumi each tallied 11 points. Hansen and Adams also both grabbed a team-best five rebounds.

Florida Gulf Coast out-shot UNF, but the Ospreys won the battle on the boards. The Eagles were 50.0 percent (21-for-42) from the floor, including 58.8 percent in the second half. UNF shot 37.0 percent (17-for-46) and out-rebounded the Eagles 30-24.

The first half was a battle with the largest lead being six when Conner hit a three at 13:19 to make it 14-8. However, Florida Gulf Coast battled back and four ties occurred throughout the last 11:19 of the half. The half's last tie was with 33 seconds to go when Conner hit a jumper to make it 28-28, but Florida Gulf Coast responded with an Adams trey to take a 31-28 lead at halftime.

The Eagles forced two early UNF turnovers in the second half to swing the momentum towards their favor. Florida Gulf Coast used a 20-6 spurt during the first part of the half in order to take a 17-point, 51-34 lead at 10:34.

Tough UNF defense limited the Eagles to just one field goal and two foul shots over the next five minutes and the Ospreys cut into their deficit behind a 13-5 run. A layup from Lamar capped the run and pulled the Ospreys to within nine as Florida Gulf Coast held a 56-47 lead with 5:24 to go. However, Florida Gulf Coast used a 10-3 run in the final 5:11 to halt the Ospreys' bid for a comeback.

UNF returns to the road for the next three games. The road swing starts off on Saturday at Mercer. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m., at the University Center.